Assigfoe op osti



(No Model.)

A. B. GATES.

SLATE GLEANER.

No. 330,312. Patented Nov. 10, 1885.

N. PETERS. Phole-Lilllagmpher, Washington a. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT O FICE.

ALFRED B. GATES, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-- HALF TO SAMUEL MAWHINNEY, OF SAME PLACE.

SLATE-CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 330,312, dated November 10, 1885.

Application filed March 25, 1885.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALFRED B. GATES, of Worcester, in the county of Worcester, and in the State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Slate-Cleaners; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure l is a perspective view of my improved device, and Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of the same.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts in each of the figures.

The design of my invention is to furnish a simple, convenient, and inexpensive means whereby children may remove pencil-marks from slates; and to this end said invention consists, as a new article of manufacture, in the article constructed in the manner and for the purpose herinafter specified.

In the annexed drawings, A represents a cylindrical sheet-metal casing, which, preferably, has a diameter of about two and onehalf inches and a height of about two inches, and is provided with a cylindrical central chamber, a, which extends from the bottom to the top of said casing, and at its upper end is open.

The annular chamber a, surrounding the central chamber, a, is inelosed at its sides and at each end, except that within the wall which separates it from said central chamber are a number of small openings, of, and at its upper end is provided an opening, a that is closed when not in use by means'of a cork, a, or other suitable stopper.

Within the central chamber, a, is placed a Serial No. 160,096. (No model.)

sponge, B, which closely fills the same and projects from its open end, after which the annular chamber a is filled with water through the opening a and the stopper a then inserted.

Water from the chamber a passes through the openings of into the sponge B, and is conducted by capillary attraction to the outer portion of said sponge, which is rendered sufficiently moist to enableit to be used for washing the surface of a slate to remove therefrom pencil-marks.

In consequence of the smallness of the openings between the water-chamber a and the chamber containing said sponge no more water Will pass into the latter than is necessary for keeping its filling well moistened, and when once filled with water will last for a week or more, dependent upon the amount of use given to the article.

Having thus fully set forth the merits of my invention, what I claim is i As a new article of manufacture, the hereinbefore-described slate-cleaner, consisting of the casing A, provided with the central chamber, a, filled with sponge B, and the surrounding annular chamber a, adapted for the reception of water, and having communication through openings at with said sponge-chamber, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of March, 1885.

ALFRED B. GATES.

Witnesses:

JAMES E. DENNIS, OSSIAN T. CRAWFORD. 

